South American rattleback
|name = South American rattleback |kingdom = Animalia |phylum = Chordata |class = Mammalia |order = Rodentia}} The '''South American rattleback', grassland rattleback, or simply rattleback is a species of rattleback, an armoured rodent, native to the Amazon Grassland of 5 million AD. Evolution .]] The rattlebacks evolved from a South American rodent called the paca. When the Amazon Rainforest disappeared, replaced by an open grassland, these rodents could no longer rely on the cover of the jungle to survive, and so evolved heavy armour and spines for defense. The South American rattleback has a North American cousin which migrated north and adapted to live in desert conditions. Biology The South American rattleback is about the size of an ottter. Its back is covered by moveable plates, which are composed of hardened, matted hair, like the armour of a pangolin or the horns of a rhinoceros. These plates are strong enough to withstand repeated blows from a carakiller, and are also somewhat fireproof, allowing the rattleback to survive the bush-fires which are common on the Amazon Prairie, and which the rattleback is too slow and heavy to escape. Additionally, its eyelids are covered in a protective layer of hardened skin, to protect its eyes from the heat of fires. The rattleback has smaller, non-moveable scales on its head. As well as the plates, it also has a fringe of long, hard, sharp spines or quills on either side of its body, just below the edge of its plates, as well as on the crown of its head. Behaviour The rattleback is broadly omnivorous, mainly eating grass stems, roots, and tubers, but it will also feed on carrion and the eggs of birds and reptiles. It is a solitary, highly territorial animal which only comes together to mate''The Future Is Wild: A Natural History of the Future'' and does not otherwise tolerate other rattlebacks. When two individuals meet, they engage in displays, rattling their plates to make noise. The louder rattleback is the winner. When it is attacked, the rattleback is able to use the fringe of spines along its sides to hunker itself down into the earth, making it almost impossible to dislodge and protecting its vulnerable underside. Ecology The rattleback's taste for eggs brings it into conflict with animals such as carakillers, communal nesters who defend their eggs. However, carakillers are usually unable to kill rattlebacks on account of their armour. Like carakillers, rattlebacks will scavenge carrion following forest fires. Extinction With the end of the ice age, the world warms up and the Amazon is again a tropical rainforest. The animals of the grassland, adapted to grassland life, go extinct. Appearances In the documentary The rattleback appears in "Prairies of Amazonia". A troop of babookaris are scared off by a territorial rattleback which was actually trying to scare another rattleback. A carakiller later discovers one eating its eggs, but is unable to injure it or even scare it off due to its armour. The rattleback survives the later bush fire due to having evolved fire resistant scales. Stock footage of the rattleback from "Prairies of Amazonia" also appears in the next episode, "Cold Kansas Desert". In the manga At the beginning of Chapter II, "Amazon Grasslands," a rattleback is briefly hassled by a troop of babookaris. At the end of the chapter, as the babookaris are chased by a pack of carakillers, a rattleback is seen eating the carakiller's eggs. In the animated series Minor appearances Unnamed rattlebacks make brief appearances in the episodes "Sign of the Time Flyer", "Queen of the Squibbons, Part 2", and "Snowstalker in a Strange Land". In "Sign of the Time Flyer," C.G. accidentally steps on one whilst climbing on a rock, making it rattle and alerting the nearby carakiller pack to their location. In "Queen of the Squibbons, Part 2," C.G. again encounters a rattleback whilst fleeing from a carakiller: although she worries that either animal will attack her, the carakiller goes for the rattleback, which it is unable to harm. In "Snowstalker in a Strange Land," the stowaway snowstalker comes across a rattleback which it gnaws on, but quickly becomes bored and wanders off when it is unable to penetrate the rodent's armour. List of appearances *''The Future Is Wild'' **1x04. Prairies of Amazonia **1x05. Cold Kansas Desert (cameo) *''The Future Is Wild: A Natural History of the Future'' *''The Future Is Wild'' manga **02. Amazon Grasslands *''The Future Is Wild'' animated series **1x11. Sign of the Time Flyer **1x25. Queen of the Squibbons, Part 2 **1x26. Snowstalker in a Strange Land *''The Future Is Wild: The Living Book'' Notes *In "Prairies of Amazonia," Stephen Harris says that the rattleback "probably evolved" from "something like a paca '''or an agouti'," and the footage shown depicts an agouti, not a paca. However, ''The Future Is Wild: A Natural History of the Future confirms that the rattleback evolved from the paca, not the agouti. Gallery Documentary= FIW 1x4 Rattleback.jpg FIW_1x4_Rattleback_2.png FIW_1x4_Rattleback_rattling.png FIW_1x4_Rattleback_approaching_eggs.png FIW_1x4_Rattleback_and_eggs.png FIW_1x4_Rattleback_caught.png FIW_1x4_Carakiller_attacking_rattleback.jpg FIW_1x4_Rattleback_hunkered_down.png FIW_1x4_Rattleback_leaving.png |-|Promotional= 5m-rattleback-600px.jpg South american rattleback.png Rattleback_banner.png Amazon graslands neu.jpg |-|Models= Rattleback DE.jpg Desert rattleback statue.png Futuroscope cuirasson.JPG Futuroscope rattleback head.jpg In other languages References Navigation Rattleback, South American Rattleback, South American Rattleback, South American Rattleback, South American Rattleback, South American Rattleback, South American Category:5 million AD